URIteacherknowledge - EDC 430 F08 OR-1 -All Entries

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Observations:

Ms. Derix walks around the class as students enter asking them to hand in their homework. The students generally sit down and discuss the agenda on the board and finish between class discussions from the hallway. Ms. Derix checks in with students as she walks around, asking after missing assignments, or their book/notebook for this class. Before class is brought to order she checks the hallway for tardy students and shuts the door to keep out the noise from another class that will be working in the halls today. She walks back in and prepares the students for the assignment today by asking for them to get out their notebooks, open a new page and set it up. At the students ask a few questions about the homework and otehr things but she gets them back on task by reviewing the agenda on the board. She then goes over the homework with the class (a fill in the blank worksheet) by reading the paragrapgh out loud and letting the students respond en masse to the blanks. Before she continues to read she says the correct answer to reinforce it. As she goes along she asks a few questions of the class to gather how much they have understood and keep them focused on the task. The only differences was in one class where she had to re-assign some late work to students who had yet to complete it, or to check if a student was dismissed and thats why they were not in the class. By the last class of the day she was also walking around less but was still asking questions and checking with students as they walked past her (sitting on the side center of the room, where most students walk by to reach their seats).

Reflections:

I thought that she had a great way of gaining the students attention with her presence throughout the room as she walked around at the start and while she read out loud to the class. This meant that any student was no further than six feet from her every few minutes, so was less likely to stray from the task. It also meant that she was avalable to the students for questions and such as they got settled in so she could spearhead any questions that may have arisen. I also like how much class participation she asks for, especially as she reviews the material from the last class and homework. This allows the students to show their own knowledge and gives her an opportunity to discover any misdirection they have over concepts. It is much louder in some classes than others but the loud classes generally have more participation and on task behavior as well as far as I have noticed. I hope to be able to engage students as quickly as she does while also probing their knowledge to find out where I stand. She is able to abadpt and question students so that they get a clearer understanding as well which I will try to do as well.

Class Topic: Photosynthesis
Grade: 6
Observed by: Mary Ackerman

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is homework from the previous night reviewed/collected/assessed? How does your CT engage students during the opening of the lesson?

Observations:

Ponagannsett Middle School is arranged into suites (a.k.a pods). Mrs. Patalano (along with the other teachers) would stand at her door where she would watch the students transition from their classes. The five teachers would essentially form a network of eyes and watch the students from different angles. She would "direct traffic" and greet students as they entered her class. The students would then have a seat and chat until Mrs. Patalano went to the front of the class and started instructing them. Mrs. Patalano also has the class agenda on the white board to instruct the student of what is going on that day . She then has the students place their homework in a color coded folder. If the students do not have the homework she puts a mark next to there position on the seating chart (For larger assessment they have to sign a sheet with the reason why they do not have it) then later records the information in her grading program. She then introduces the days topic and instructs the students of the assessment or lab activity.

Reflections:

I believe that how Mrs. Patalano watches and greets the class is an important part of starting the class off positively. Mrs. Patalano method of collecting the homework is very self-protecting (However, when she explained to me how parents could be I understood.) I think I would adopt this method. However, instead of having a class folder I might try a system of individual binders where the student signs when handing in assignments and then resigns when I issue it to them to put into their portfolio. I would also have the days agenda on the board. I feel that It is important to for the students to have a routine that they know is the same everyday.

Class Topic: Physical Science
Grade: 8
Observed by: John Aellig

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Observations:

At the start of the class, my CT stands at the front of the class and greets the students as they enter the classroom.She guides them into the room and to their tables accordingly. At the start of the day my CT, Mrs. A, writes the agenda for the day on the board as a numbered list. This section usually starts with some kind of homework check and discussion of the previous meeting's work. She also has a 'What now?' section on the board that gives students directions on what they can do once they enter the classroom and are getting settled at their tables. This section usually contains directions for getting out the previous night's homework, getting out any materials they may need to use during that days class (graphs, rulers, calculators). Once the students are seated and Mrs. A is ready to start class, she usually tells the students that she's ready to begin class and reminds them of what they should have out and ready. Sometimes Mrs. A has the students take out their homework and will come by and check it for completion during an in class activity or she will have them hand it in at the start of class. Mrs. A starts discussing the homework and then moves into whatever the activity for that day is. She engages her students by asking them questions relating to that days activities. These questions usually pertain to previous knowledge they have learned and can be applied the new information they will learn that day. In this particular class the students were testing how boys and girls reaction times differ. They performed one test previously and were going to perform another one over the next few classes. She asked her students what worked in the previous test and what they should change for the second test. This got them interested in performing the second test and seeing how their results would change.

Reflections:

Mrs. A's has very effective ways of opening her classes. I feel that the way she organizes her white board is excellent. This is something that is consistent throughout the classes and the students can expect this every class period. The 'What now?' is very helpful for the students because the start of class can be very chaotic and this way the students can look at this every time they enter the class and know what is expected of them by the start of the class. The agenda section is also very helpful for both the students and for the teacher. This allows everyone to know what the agenda will be for that day and what will be expected of them and keep everyone on track.
Mrs. A will usually walk around and check their homework for completion. This allows her to talk with each student with their progress and any problems and/or compliments on their work. While this is occurring, the students are working on an in-class activity. While Mrs. A is checking the homework, it also allows her to check-in with how the students are doing with the activity and if they have any questions and are staying on track.
Overall, Mrs. A opens her class in an effective manner and the students respond to her and her activities positively.

Class Topic: Writing a Procedure
Grade: 7
Observed by: Jillian Boisse

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Observation/Reflection #1: Starting From the Beginning

Observations:

This visit to my CT was at Gaudet Middle School in Middletown. I arrived half way through one of the classes and was greeted by all the students with loud hellos with some popping their heads out of sweatshirt hoods like turtles. My CT, Mrs. Howell, had told them I was coming earlier in the period and she said they were very eager to meet me. On that welcoming note I watched as Mrs. Howell was in the middle of going over a worksheet the students had just finished in groups. She had the correct answers on an overhead and she walked among the students' tables reading off the answers and explaining them. When there was just a few minutes left in the period, she asked the students to take out their planners and write the homework assignment due for next class as seen on the board. Since the assignment was to write a possible procedure for finding the mass and volume of a cylinder of water, she further explained the assignment because not everyone understood what was meant by the term "procedure". When this period got up to leave, Mrs. Howell walked back to the front of the class greeting and instructing students coming in for the next period to take a paper from the box she had just placed on the front desk. As she did this she took attendance and instructed students to read the paper and write down their response and any ideas, facts they found interesting from the articles. All the students quietly followed the instructions while I answered some questions for those who were still unsure of what to do, and Mrs. Howell walked around and checked the homework assigment from last class. When she had finished checking homework, Mrs. Howell gathered the attention of the class by saying, "pencils down, and eyes up here, please". Today's class was continuation of an Alka Seltzer lab from last class so Mrs. Howell had the students take out their composition books and look at what they had completed. The students had already gathered the data so Mrs. Howell refreshed their memories by asking what they observed in the experiment and to talk to a neighbor about why they think they saw what they did. As she walked around she helped steer the students in a way to the correct explanation then asked them to write what they had just discussed in the next section of their composition book with the heading, "Explanation" because, as she said, this is where you try to make sense of the results so you can explain them to someone who hadn't performed the experiement.

Reflections:

From what I observed I believe Mrs. Howell has a pretty effective strategy for maintaining a classroom and keeping the students attention focused on what they are supposed to be doing. At this time, semi-early in the year still, she has started to establish norms for the class, such that they will always have something (handout, overhead, video clip) that they have to write a response to with at least five ideas taken from their observations. Knowing this about each class, students get into the routine of having something to do the moment they get in their seats instead of talking, fooling around, waiting for the teacher's instructions. The only instruction she gave was to take a paper for the response activity and most students knew exactly what to do. I also thought it was great that Mrs. Howell was prepared for the next class by being a the doorway and greeting each student. This way she engaged them and took an interest in each individual. It's up to the teacher to address the students first or they may not feel the need or feel comfortable to address her with questions or when she needs their attention later during class. I like how Mrs. Howell didn't collect the homework, but walked around to each student to check it out. This is another way that she personally enagaged each student because she asked and answered questions about the homework while the others quietly wrote about the "response" article. When she finished going around she was ready to begin the lesson. Though I did not attend the first few classes, I am sure Mrs. Howell established the importance of, "pencils down, eyes up" because not one student did not follow this instruction. She reminded the students of the lab last class, which gets them thinking, "what did we do?" and had them take out their composition notebooks where the information was collected, which shows then where they left off. I think the words Mrs. Howell chose when addressing the students really helped them understand what they were doing. Instead of standing in front of the class explaining each step, she gave a short introductory step, then let the students figure it out for themselves. She did not leave them to fend for themselves after, but walked around the class observing and interjecting when she thought necessary if the students were becoming distracted or loosing the idea of explaning the results. For the most part, no one went off track and students talked to eachother and figured out on their own how to explain the data. This was an example of a well-managed class. 7

Class Topic:

General Science

Grade:

Observed by:

Beth Copeley

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Observations:

My teacher is in the frond at the start of the class. Today she gave students about 15 minutes to come up and talk to her about missins class, get together their assignments, and set up for their daily activities. During this time, she takes attendance via a computer program. She is very lenient, sending students to their lockers or the bathroom... there were many bathroom breaks. She even offered one student permission to call his mom via cell phone because he forgot his project. The rest of the classes, we did presentations, took a metric quiz and sat in for a general science lecture. She had the Gen. Sci. students open their book for the first time today and talking about how they are going to finally introduce the "content" part of the class because the first month was dedicated to labs and studying the metric system.

Classroom management: Students are given a chance to be mature and sit with their friends. If they fail to show they are mature enough to not talk during class, she gives them one warning before separating them with a new seating arrangement. Today I told two students to stop talking during a quiz.

Reflections:

The lecture helped me see today what content the students actually know when it comes to general science. I think she used her introductory "lecture" as an assessment, because she used student responses to drive her lecture and bolstered it along the way. I'm surprised that she is referring to content as separate from labs and the metric system. To me they all seemed integrated and those labs and applications should be encouraged throughout the year, but I also have not observed the entire year yet. The students in Physiology were quiet and tired... mainly seniors. The project she had assigned to them required them to give presentations today to sum everything up. Students were disengaged and many did not seem to care about their poster/presentor. Even though they were applied to the human body (a personal application) students were numb to the information. I believe that something bigger definately needs to be encorporated into the lesson, something to grab them a bit more... what that is I don't exactly know yet. I do know that for the presentations, I will pick on one student during their persentation and ask them to tell me what it means when they use words like "extracellular fluid. "Many read information at a college physiology reading level when giving their presentations. Encouraging them to put it into a "known language" will help them understand the material better and using a student as an example will show other students what I expect out of them and what is important. Fancy tables and posters don't mean jack if you can't understand them yourself.

Classroom mangagement: It would have been better if I had asked those two girls if there was something I could answer for them as a more passive approach to get them to stop talking. No reason for dirty looks to accur before I even start teaching.

Class Topic:Physiology/ Earth Science
Grade: mainly seniors/ mainly freshmen
Observed by: Samantha DeCuollo

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Observation/Reflection #1: Starting From the Beginning
During this observation, focus on how class begins. Where is your CT before class begins? What is he or she doing? How and when does your CT establish order and begin class? How is homework from the previous night reviewed/collected/assessed? How does your CT engage students during the opening of the lesson?
Observation:
Today was a little different. It seems that the teachers are having trouble with the sixth graders being rowdy so during advisory they all had to watch a video on proper behavior. The "pod" implemented a new lunch detention policy for the students who cause distractions in class, are continuously late, and/or misbehave. The students had to read the policy, sign it, and take it to their parents.guardians to be reviewed and signed as well so everyone knows whats going to happen if an issue arises. After advisory, I observed the begining of class. I think the students were a bit intimidated. My CT was at the door of the class and as students filed in she asked them to take their seats and to make sure their botttoms were on the chair. She moved to the center of the room and explained the class agenda to them, which was to finish their projects on "Cerealities". Right away order was established in the classroom and students were engaged because they had to work on their posters from the previous class. One group at a time was instructed to get up and get their materials without talking and to take a seat. Homework was to be handed in through their class folder in the front of the room.
Reflection:
I think that the transition from advisory to class influenced the students to pay attention and focus on their work. Having the teacher at the door greeting students sets the tone for a more positive, inviting enviornment. I do believe that the new discipline policy made it alot easier to establish order and begin the class right away. My CT explains the directions verbally and writes them on the board so that they are clear, this is important because as we know some students do not always pay attention. After the students start working she walks around giving assistance where it is needed. I think this is important for students in order for them to take greater ownership of their learning. It is also important that my CT was right there if they had questions or concerns. By talking to the students, setting an agenda, and providing assistance when needed shows the students that the teacher cares about their work and this motivates them to do well on their posters. Also, my CT is well organized so each group has their own place in the class where they store things.This seems to help get students to get to work without confusion. It seemed to me that having a table of materials in the front of the room for the students to use made them more interested in their work. Some of the materials were cut-outs, scissors, rulers, markers, and samples of about 20 different cereals that the students examined. This provided students with materials to be creative with their poster and personalize it. I believe that when students have a lab to complete that they pay more attention to details and learn more from the "hands on" experiences, I know that this is the case for me.
Observation#1 Starting from the beginning
Grade 6
Observed by Talia Delmonico

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Observation Reflection #1 focus on how class begins. Where is your CT before class begins? What is he or she doing? How and when does your CT establish order and begin class? How is homework from the previous night reviewed/collected/assessed? How does your CT engage students during the opening of the lesson?

Observation
When I arrived at school at 7:25 AM, Lynn Arcand was alone in her classroom preparing for the days work. There were no other rooms open with teachers occupying them. Attendance is taken at 7:35 AM. I was shown how to take attendance using the online system, and used Lynn's seating chart to take attendance. At 7:45 the homeroom travelled down the hall for the Learning Period, where a school psychologist discussed anger prevention to two combined 6th grade classes. I learned that there were quite a few children diagnosed with autism in these classes. A teacher told me that this would especially help these students due to their inability to sense facial exprerssions or emotion in themselves or other people. At 8:25 AM, period C 6th grade met back in Lynn's classroom. Before the class, we went down to the library to get the overhead projector which was used to project pictures taken by Lynn of different clouds. When the pictures went up on the overhead, Lynn began to talk. The class immediately started to pay attention. It seems that Lynn seems to have the respect of her students very early on in the school year. After a question and answer session, Lynn asked the students to take out their flash cards from the previous class. The pictures of the clouds were associated with a question and answer session regarding the types of precipitation associated with the clouds. This set up the activity for the flash cards. On one side was a part of a word, and the other side was a phrase associated with that ford. For instance 3 cards would spell out the word "condensation", with "con" "dens" and "ation" , with a phrase that when added up defines the word on the other side. This was done with many vacab words. After about 15 minutes, where the class had the opportunity to discover at least one sentence from the cards, Lynn then put on a Bill Nye video on the water cycle to conclude the class.

Reflection
Lynn is prepared for class and immediately has a task for the students. She doesn't allow trhem the opportunity to get off of task. They are immediately engaged in some activity in an organized and purposeful fashion. When students walk into her class, they already know that they are supposed to write down the learning tasks fore the day and their eventual homework. She had to remind a few students to do so. The home work from the previous night was used in the activity of the present class in the form of using the flash cards. In this way, the students are regurgitating the information again, enforcing the retention of the information. Also, she engages the students by constantly switching activities. She grabbed their attention at first visually, then linguistically, and then finally by a visual/ auditory fashion. This allows the students to not become bored easily and allows for the use of various multiple intelligences.

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Please construct each paragraph so that the reader can understand what you focused your observations on without having seen the original questions. - fogleman

Observations:

When I visited Mr. Wentworth's class i got to observe a firey teacher who had the attention of his student's, while also keeping the mood in the class light. Mr. Wentworth starts the class in front of the room where he takes attendance by looking around the classroom and seeing which seats are empty all while asking where the students are and making jokes. Once Attendance is done he walks around looking at everyone's homework to make sure assignments are done for these types of assignments students get checks for completed assignments. Mr. Wentworth also assigns weekly article reviews to give students a different form of learning. He grades these articles on a 5 point system 5 being completely done. After grades are taken the class is brought back to attention and he proceeds to walk around the class room asking questions to the class pertaining to the subjects of the day. It is at this point that he makes the students aware of homework on the board and what they will be doing in class. Now as the teacher walks around he is calling on students to answer his questions pertaining to the book. Mr. Wentworth told me that he doesnt not like to just stay in front of the class and talk he would rather be moving around and engaging the kids. The teacher is always quick with a joke which seemed to make the information more readily accepted because the students were learning while enjoying his presentation.

Reflections:

I really enjoyed the classes I saw today. I felt that i wanted to be a part of Mr. Wentworth';s class because he seemed to have a really good relationship with his kids. I could tell that he loved his job and to a certain extent it rubbed off on me. I thought the class transitioned well, and one student who tried to be the start of a few distractions was quickly stopped with what appeared to be very little effort on Mr. Wentworth's part. When i talked to the teacher he admitted that he liked to joke around and that would probably never change but the tricky part is to not let the kids get out of control and to make clear what is expected from them. in the end i thought the whole class was run well and all of the beginning managerial tasks were handled quickly and efficiently.

Class Topic: Physics/Biology
Grade:
Observed by: Andrew Duquette

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Please construct each paragraph so that the reader can understand what you focused your observations on without having seen the original questions. - fogleman

Observations:

This week I observed two of the classes that I will be taking on in January, Dr. Pothier's period 1 seniors and period 5 (mostly 11th grade). Period 1 was observed first and consists of 7 students, some who have Individualized Education Plans. As I arrived at the classroom Dr. Pothier was waiting outside the door greeting students as they entered. After everyone was seated she collected homework and told the class that they would be having a quiz (also said that she hinted at a quiz during the last class). One student openly admits that he has not completed his homework assignment to which Dr. Pothier responds "How disappointing." Many of the students express that they would feel more comfortable going over the homework before the quiz and Dr. Pothier agrees. She checks the homework assingment into her computer to give the students credit and then hands the assignment back. The homework was on significant figures and Dr. Pothier engages the students by making them answer questions and calls on students that are not as engaged to keep them on task. During this time she makes connections with significant figures to previous lessons about scientific notation to help students better understand. After this students still feel as though they need a little more practice so Dr. Pothier gives them more example problems to try and moves around the room to see how they are doing. After going through the example problems, students say they are ready for the quiz and sound fairly confident. The quiz is written on the board (5 questions on sig figs). The quiz is passed in and the answers are gone over. Some of the students openly acknowledge how they know instead of just giving answers when asked. Dr. Pothier then gives students the option to review first or do linear converstions first. They decide upon review first. Dr. Pothier sets up a trash can in the front of the room and explains to me that this is "Trash-can review." Students are split up into teams and get points for correct answers and they also get a shot at the can which can be worth different points depending on how far away the student is standing. All students are engaged and enjoying the activity. After the match is complete the winning team writes their name down on paper and they recieve bonus points on their next test. Dr. Pothier then switches gears to linear converstions. She puts a conversion on the board and askes students to solve. She again walks around the room to moniter students progress.

Friday I went in to observe period 5 (a middle level Chemistry course) which consists of about 15 students. This class is also going over significant figures and Dr. Pothier is writing example problems up on the smart board. Students are asked to turn in their homework assignment. One student is very withdrawn, not saying very much not doing very much in terms of practicing the problems (I later am informed that he is failing the course). Students begin to talk amongst themselves signaling that they are done. Dr. Pothier asks one student to put a problem up on the board and continues to check in homework. Students are told that they are going to have a quiz but will do a worksheet first which radiates multiple groans around the room. Dr. Pothier hands out the worksheet on sig figs/scientific notation and the students work quietly on it while she sets up a chemical demonstration. After a few minutes she begins to walk around the room and check on students progress. The worksheet is gone over and then the quiz is taken. After the quiz gears are changed and the chemical demonstration begins. Dr. Pothier (wearing safety goggles) lights an ethanol burner and heats KCl in a test tube until it becomes a liquid, this takes a few minutes. During the lag time she asks the students questions that are specific to what is happening in the test tube and the upcomming reaction. Connections are made to previous lessons on the phases of matter/chemical and physical changes. Before the reaction commeces (with the addition of a gummy bear to the liquid KCl) students are told to "stay quiet and stay focused". The reaction commences followed by an explaination of what is happening. Dr. Pothier asks them what they saw and to make connections. Gears are again switched to dimensional analysis which takes a few minutes to get students back on task (they are still a little excited about the reaction). Problems are put on the board for the students to solve and Dr. Pothier guides them through by answering questions. Class is winding down with only a few minutes left so the test tube which contained the reaction is passes around for students to see.

Reflections:

I noticed that in period 1 (seniors) Dr. Pothier is a little more laid back with the students. She treats them as mature individuals while still keeping them engaged and on task, a tallent that I am told comes with experience. She is able to see that they are not quite ready for the quiz and knows that if she just gives it without going through some examples students may do poorly and be discouraged for the remainder of the class. By making adjustments in her lesson to fit students needs she was able to go over the desired material and give them a boost of confidence before they took their quiz. I think the "trash can review" was very effective. By getting the students up and making a game out of learning she engages all of her students so that they are paying attention. Competition also had its role here keeping the students focused on thinking about the problems so they can give correct answers to help their team win. I like this idea of review as opposed to just lecturing or writing problems up on the board and having students solve them. It takes a few minutes to get the students to change gears from a "fun activity" to a more structured activity such as practicing linear equations but they eventually respond. This happens again after the chemical demonstration, which I believe was a very good visual but I did not see the relevence to the material being presented (sig figs, linear conversions). I understand that the purpose of this activity is to have students observe chemistry in action (and also to get them engaged) and for that reason I think that it was a positive demonstration. After observing period 5 I began to notice a pattern in Dr. Pothier's approach: Turn-in/go over homework, practice, assessment, engaging activity, newer material. During both of these classes she was moving around the room while conversing with students, not just lecturing in the front of the class. She also responed well when there were negative situations and remained very calm and collective. The atmosphere in both classrooms was very relaxed and students looked as if they were comfortable taking risks when answering questions. One of the most noticible aspects of Dr. Pothier's presentation style is that she is constantly listening to the students (in otherwords informally assessing them) to determine what they know and what they are prepared for.

Class Topic: Chemistry (sig figs, linear conversions)
Grade: 11th and 12th
Observed by: Matthew Hooper

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Observations:

In my observations i found that class begins in a very gradual manner. Nearly 100% of class arrived on-time and the teacher was conversing with students as they walked in while enjoying a cup of coffee. Once all the students are situated and have had approximately five minutes to relax/converse he begins class by asking the students a question that directly correlates to the the class discussion (to engage). Homework from the previous night is then collected at the beginning of class and was not reviewed.

Reflections:

I found that this laid-back transition from the previous class the current one allows the students to get out their energy in the beginning of the class so they can focus better for the majority of class. However, i feel that this strategy cannot simply be created without gradually weaning your way into it. For instance, if a new student teacher allows students to stroll into class from the hallway and start having a conversation before the student teacher can establish a common-ground (trust/respect) with the students the practice is most likely doomed to failure. If a student teacher wishes to employ this technique to begin class (which i recommend); he/she first needs to establish him/herself in the classroom as a respected individual who can take this "right" away from the students. My recommendation is for student teachers to start off with a very strict and well-defined beginning to class and slowly giving the students more and more walk-in freedoms as they gradually begin to develop a sense of respect for the student teacher.

Class Topic: Free-fall (Physics)
Grade: 2x12th
Observed by: David Kenahan

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Observation/Reflection #1: Starting From the Beginning

During this observation, focus on how class begins. Where is your CT before class begins? What is he or she doing? How and when does your CT establish order and begin class? How is homework from the previous night reviewed/collected/assessed? How does your CT engage students during the opening of the lesson?

Observation:
At the beginning of all of Mr. Browne’s classes he has a warm-up on the board for the students to complete. In the tenth grade Biology class that I observed today at North Kingstown High School, the warm-up was to study for the quiz they were about to have. The students knew about the quiz ahead of time, but Mr. Browne was giving them one last chance to review cell scientists, cell structures, and cell functions while he took attendance and finished putting away materials from the previous class’s lab activity. While taking attendance, Mr. Browne reminded the students who were absent the previous class to turn in their homework and schedule a time to come finish the end of the lab they missed. To bring everyone back together, Mr. Browne announces two more minutes of study time and answers some last minute questions as he walks around the classroom before handing out the quiz.

I observed two periods of freshmen Earth Science today in Ms. Parvo’s class. One class was honors and the other class was college prep. For both classes, Ms. Parvo welcomes her students into the classroom and starts checking homework right away. In the honors class, when all the students arrive Ms. Parvo interrupts her homework check and explains the packet she wants her student to read as a resource to help them analyze the data collected from the lab they performed last class. After answering a few questions and clarifying the task, Ms. Parvo resumes her homework check as the students get to work. In the college prep class, which is also the last period of the day, Ms. Parvo does a total class assignment check on two graphs turned in at the end of class they day before. Many students forgot to put their names on their graphs so Ms. Parvo had to go through each pile before beginning her lesson, which linked the graphs and analysis of data to the new lesson. The students were starting a lab activity to tie together all the components of the scientific method/research process that they had been learning about.

Reflection:
Today was a crazy day at NKHS for the students and teacher because of state testing. The schedule was all mixed up and students who were use to having class first period were meeting during the lunch hour, which then changed their lunch, so they were all hungry. In Mr. Browne’s class a few students were coming in late because they forgot about the schedule change, so the warm-up was explained multiple times. Mr. Browne successfully established the idea of doing warm-ups every class period because as soon as the students came in they were looking on the board for questions to answer. Today was different because of the quiz and many students were caught by surprise and chatting over the quiz and what to study. I liked how Mr. Browne was able to take attendance and address students who were absent the class before. He usually gives his class about 10 minutes to do the warm-ups, so Mr. Browne walked around the class, which kept his students on task and allowed them to ask questions. When it was time for the quiz, most of the students responded to Mr. Browne’s request to put everything away and stop talking, which made the transition from warm-up to lesson pretty smooth.

In Ms. Parvo’s honors class, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the students prepared for class and then worked while homework was being checked. As soon as they came in the room, the students all took out their homework and waited for the next direction. Ms. Parvo’s method of starting homework check, explaining the next task, and then going back to checking homework works well in this class. In her college prep class, however, Ms. Parvo needs to address the class as a whole and settle everyone down before beginning homework checking or starting the lesson. She says they are a very energetic group of kids, but mostly because they have her class everyday last period. Once the class began, most students settled down and got to work. I found it very beneficial to see how Ms. Parvo handled her two classes differently, adjusting her methods for the students.

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Observations:

As the class comes in Mrs. Parson is in a variety of places. Occasionally she is at her desk finishing up last minute prep for the class. However most times she is with the students, she often starts by greeting them at the door, although occasionally ends up with a certain student that may have had a question for her. As the students come in the class agenda, including what is due today and what is for homework tonight is posted in the front of the room. Students are expected to write down the homework and to take out last nights. There is no set procedure for them to hand it in. Once the students are in the room, Mrs. Parson gives them a few seconds (maybe 20 or 30) to settle in and start to quite down. Usually all she has to do for them to switch to class mode is call their attention to her. Occasionally she has to call out certain students names, but that is the worst I have seen so far. Most of the classes I have been observing our continuations of past ones and so the emphasis was placed more on reminding rather than hooking the students in the classes.

Reflections:

Mrs. Parson wants to be greeting all of the students, and seems to take a good deal of interest in them as people, however she has to share a room and so sometimes it is impossible for her to be totally prepared for a class in the instant between when the old class leaves and the new begins to filter in. Whenever possible though, she is with the students, I have never seen her grade papers or something of the like while students were either coming in, or in the room. It is a Chariho Policy, which we both agree with, to post the agenda for the class and so that is done. Although she doesn’t have a set policy for collecting homework (i.e. a bin that students put it in on the way in), I don’t feel as though it distracts from the class due to the block schedule, students have their work out and ready to be reviewed or collected. This also allows my CT to make a quick round or ask a few questions to make sure the class had a decent understanding before she collects it. By demanding respect, and also allowing the students small tangents during class (a quick laugh here and there) as long as they can come back, the students seem ken to pay attention when needed.

Class Topic: Sand Lab Formal report
Grade: 9
Observed by: Chris Liberti

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Please construct each paragraph so that the reader can understand what you focused your observations on without having seen the original questions. - fogleman

Observation/Reflection #1: Starting From the Beginning

Observations:

I observed at Exeter West Greenwich Junior/ Senior High School today for the full school day. I spent the first block period in Mrs. Brocato’s middle school class where she was doing a lesson on organisms. Before class, Mrs. Brocato is always either getting the projector set up with an introductory discussion question, organizing the desks, or standing in the hallways greeting her students. As the students enter her class, they know exactly what to do. It seems like an unspoken order that just happens (I am sure from the first few weeks of school). They come in, write down their homework, get their homework/ assignment that is due out, and start writing in their journals to answer the discussion question. When the bell rings, Mrs. Brocato come in and goes around to each student in the class. She collects the assignment that was due (today was a lab report), and stamps their agenda to be sure that they have written in tonight's homework. She then starts the lesson. Today she started the lesson with the question of "why do we have eyebrows?" and went into a discussion about how humans used to have bushier eyebrows many years ago. This led the student to connect with the idea of evolution and adaptation. She gave the students a handout with a variety of pictures on it and they had to decide which of the object were living and which were non-living. This led to a discussion about what makes something a living thing. She went on to give a demonstration, lighting a candle, and describing the candle like many of the students had described a living thing to prove that in science it is very important to be careful in describing something. She then introduced the activity, where they went through a stack of pictures of living things and put them into categories just like scientists when they group organisms into families, classes, etc. They talked about Greek and Latin names and were instructed to make up their own names for their favorite organism, which they wrote on the board. The next part of the lesson consisted of Mrs. Brocato reading a few pages from the book and demonstrating the reading technique of “chunking.” She read, they picked out the main ideas and she guided them to taking notes on the reading. To conclude the lesson, she went back to the original handout and had her students clarify the misconceptions that they had at the beginning of the class. I observed this same lesson with a different class during the last period of the day. I also observed a high school physical science class, a high school advisory period, Mrs. Brocato’s advisory period, and her enrichment class.

Reflections:

Again I had a great day at EWG. I spent a lot of time with Mrs. Brocato and I tried to observe some high school classes as well but Mrs. Ward has been out the past two times that I have been visiting. Some things that I noticed during Mrs. Brocato’s lesson was that she used the handout at the beginning of class as a pre-assessment for the lesson to see what her students knew about living things. One class did know some key terms that the other class did not, which allowed her to tweak her lesson a little based on what her students already knew. She told me that with block scheduling it is important to break up the class time. What she likes to do it break it up into three parts. During the lesson that I observed, one part was the introduction and demonstration, one part was the group work with grouping and naming, and the last part was the reading and taking notes. She said that these thee parts can be interchangeable, based on how the students are doing. An example would be if they seem like they need to get up, do the group work second and then the notes. Overall, I had a great day and I was able to see a lot of different aspects of teaching, including the advisor and enrichment classes.

Class Topic: Living vs. Non-living Organisms
Grade: 7
Observed by: Beth McArdle

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Please construct each paragraph so that the reader can understand what you focused your observations on without having seen the original questions. - fogleman

Observation/Reflection #1

Observations:

My visit to South Kingstown High School went quite well today. Mr. Johnson started each of his biology classes out from the front of class with his pet millipede today. None of these students had met this creature yet, and most of the girls squealed once they found out it was a bug! Somehow or other, when he walked around with it, talking of what it eats (detritus) where it is originally found, and the difference between centipedes, nearly everyone got the courage to at least touch it. This initial interesting event brought the class together. At one point, standing at the front of the room, he had to bring a few girls attention back; he gently stopped talking and made a coughing sound, in which the girls realized that they were being rude. He made certain to thank them for turning around!

When it came time for homework, at the beginning of class (after the introduction of the giant millipede) he said to them “oh, I believe there was an assignment due today…” The class automatically knew what to do, and took out their work and set their work on their desk for him to check.

Reflection:

Today, I found a few interesting things. Having sat in the back of the class for most of the day, I thought that it was kind of difficult for him to maintain a form of management when he would stand at the front and lecture. So, in this class he brought out the millipede, which engaged everyone’s curiosity, and brought the class together initially. While he was talking about the creature, (in one class at least) he started to walk around with it, I noticed he walked towards those who were talking to each other, rather than participating in discussion. I hope to use this sneaky technique to maintain class focus someday within my own classroom.

Class Topic: Biology
Grade: 10
Observed by: Lauren Paetznick

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Observation 1
Observation:
At the beginning of class Mrs. Haberlin, my CT at Board rock middle school, stood at the front of the class by the door and greeted students as they came in. Once the bell rang she prompted the students to pull out their science binders while she took attendance. One student forgot their science binder and was allowed to go to their locker, which was close by. She managed to finish attendance in seconds as the rest of the students prepared for class, after which the school’s announcements began. After the announcements the students were asked to pair up for an activity where they were asked to show the chemical equation for photosynthesis using both pictures and chemical symbols on index cards. During the activity the students worked quickly to get the answer as the teacher circled the classroom and checked their work. There was a small amount of chatter from the students as they finished and waited to be checked. Up to this point the students were reviewing. Moving onto new material, my CT asked the students to try and set up their index cards to show respiration, noting that it was the reverse of photosynthesis. After this the students took some quick notes were some students were asked to help by writing on the board. The students were given a hand out comparing respiration and photosynthesis, which they quickly completed and went over as a class. Home work was assigned and the students were given the last 3 minutes of class to get started and ask any questions they may have had.
At the beginning of period 2 she again greeted the students as they entered and again a student needed to go to their locker for their binder. This class period students continued work an a rough copy of their property poems. Each student was asked to think of an abject and write a poem about it using at least 5 different physical properties of the object. My CT started by having everyone pull out the rough copy of their poems to be checked by the teacher. The students then spread throughout the room to work individually as my CT, and I worked the room, asking students if they need someone to proof read their work. This class was a little noisier than the previous one but my CT was able to quiet the students when needed. By the end of the period many students had begun work on their final draft of their poem, which would be due Friday.

Reflection: When focusing on my teachers actions at the beginning of class I noticed she had no trouble establishing order when she needed it. She used multiple tactics to get the students to be quiet. Some tactics were used for one period and not for another. For example her first period class, which was better behaved, she simply raised her hand when she wanted silence. In period two however her methods were more vocal. She would yell out, “time out,” if voices were escalating, or she would say, “I’m waiting,” to cue the students to simmer down. As far as engaging the students at the beginning of class, the photosynthesis index card activity forced students to recall what they had recently covered while giving them an opportunity to succeed, and show the teacher what they have learned.

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During this observation, focus on how class begins. Where is your CT before class begins? What is he or she doing? How and when does your CT establish order and begin class? How is homework from the previous night reviewed/collected/assessed? How does your CT engage students during the opening of the lesson?

Observation: When I went to my middle school classroom, I immediately noticed that before each class Mrs. H stands outside of her classroom and greets the students as they walk into the class. The classes that I observed were all extremely well behaved when they came into the classroom. Mrs. H has clearly stated her rules in the handout that she gave out in the beginning of the year, and one of them was coming into the class and sitting in their seats. When she walks into the class, she immediately starts asking the students questions about what they have learned last class. This keeps her students occupied as she is taking attendance. North Smithfield Middle School is a newly built school, so the teachers each have their own classroom computer which they are able to take attendance with, and it gets sent to the office. Mrs. H engages her students by asking them about the previous class or classes. She had the students look back in their notes to find out information that they talked about in previous classes. The teacher hadn't assigned any homework the class before, but when I asked her what her method of collecting the homework, she said that she just goes around the class and collects it from each students, this way she always knows who did and did not do the assignment.
Reflection: While observing the eigth grade science class Mrs. H used many techniques which I learned in my Middle School Endorsement class. I learned that greeting the students at the door is key to success in a classroom, and that it shows that you are interested in their lives outside the classroom. I personally think that the teachers stand outside in the hallway to help police the hallways and be sure that the students are not goofing around. Also the teachers let them know how much time they have left before the beginning of the next class and try to make sure that they are not late. I definitely feel that it is important to stand outside the classroom and greet the students as they come in and will implement that when I am teaching her class. Another technique that Mrs. H used was she has had trouble with one of her classes participatingduring the lessons. She asked the students to look in their notes to find an answer to her question to begin the class, and made sure to tell the students that if they were uncomfortable answering some of the harder questions that this is a question that will easily allow them to participate in class. I learned that giving all students an oppurtunity to participate is a good way to keep the attention of the entire class because it allows the students to be engaged in their learning.

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Observation/Reflection #1: Starting From the Beginning

Observations:

I found my CT standing in the corridor in front of his classroom entrance. It was in between classes and the corridor was filled with a flowing, noisy mass of high school students. The CT stood there at the end of the corridor and as students peeled off that throng of students and moved to enter his class, he greeted them warmly by name and smiled at each and every one. When the bell sounded he and I entered the classroom and he closed the door behind us. What I noticed as I initially entered the class were some students:
v Rummaging through their backpacks, finding and extricating notebooks, textbooks or pieces of paper.
v Writing in their notebooks
v Opening textbooks
v Talking quietly among themselves
The CT then quietly asked for homework to be passed to the front of the class while he made his way to the front of the class. I noticed that up front written on the white board was the following:
October 14, 2008
Review Chapter 2 Section 4
Discuss Chapter 2 Sections 5 & 6
Lab 40 Min (Owl pellets)
This is what the students were copying down into their notebooks earlier. Upon reaching the front of the class he welcomed back 2 students who were absent the day earlier, giving them some handouts and telling them that he would help them at the beginning of lab with what they had missed. On a lab table next to his desk were neat stacks of paper that I would later discover to be all the necessary handouts for completing the Owl Pellet Lab.

Reflections:

Evidently, my CT is very organized. His 32 years of experience showed. He exhibited the following behaviors that reflected his experience and contributed to an efficient and effective start of class.
v Got their early to set up class.
v Greeted the students entering the class.
v Set clear consistent expectations for what a student does when entering his class.
v Informed the students what was going to happen that day.
v All the supplies and tools that he and his students would need for that class were easily accessible.
v Made sure that students were prepared and acknowledged those that may be behind.
All these teacher actions prior to and the beginning of class helped prevent the transfer of that noisy corridor mayhem into the classroom. I see now how important it is to control the classroom before you start teaching the lesson.

Class Topic: Starting From the Beginning
Grade: 9
Observed by: Lionel Tessier

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Observations:

My cooperating teacher at Narragansett High School is in the classroom before the class begins, setting up the activities for the class, or grading papers. She continues to do this as the students start filing into the classroom. She allows the students to socialize with each other until the bell rings for the class to begin. to get the attention of the class, my CT simply stands at the front of the class and speaks quietly until the class is forced to quiet down to be able to hear her. The first class I observed was a biology I class and they went over yesterday's assignment in th every beginning of class. My CT says that she does not always do this, but she felt as though she had forgotten to mention a couple important pieces of information to class class the previous day. She then had students summarize to the class what procedure they had completed the day before, and then she prompted questions to make sure the class understood the purpose of the activity.

Reflections:

My CT seems to have successfully figured out a way to allow the students to socialize for a couple of minutes, and then gain their attention with a smooth transition. I noted this, and think I will try this technique when getting the students to focus. When reviewing the previous day's activity, my CT was right in the thought that not many of the students understood the concepts they were supposed to take away from the activity. This lead me to realize that even a great teacher can sometimes not get through effectively to all the students, but it is important to reflect on the lesson, and provide further support for the concepts taught. This may also prompt her to change the activity for the next class, creating a more effective lesson.

Class topic: Carbon compounds
Grade: 10
Observed by: Haley W